Upper Elementary Curriculum

All teachers of Upper Elementary students, as well as their parents, foster a deep respect for the child. This warm, supportive community helps children in grades four and five develop self-discipline and internal motivation, encouraged by their peers. In every sphere, students strive to meet high expectations and do their personal best, as an individual and as a group member. Making mistakes and trying new approaches are seen as natural steps in the process of learning.

The Upper Elementary curriculum is carefully structured and integrated to cultivate interdisciplinary learning. Students incorporate their new knowledge with what they learned in Lower Elementary, while continuing to assimilate one subject with another. Students apply their love of the natural world to address issues of concern beyond the classroom, such as moral learning. 

Using hands-on materials and tools, students actively engage in the process of learning. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Upper Elementary children is their movement toward abstraction, the understanding of conceptual information without materials. The teacher begins with concrete materials, then sets them aside when it is clear that students understand how to solve a problem, can derive the rule, or need to learn another strategy.

The multi-age setting is a critical element of the Upper Elementary culture. It allows classroom teachers to develop close, long-term relationships with their students. Over the course of two years, teachers can apply their knowledge of each student’s learning styles and types of intelligences. This age mix over a two-year period contributes to a commitment to caring for classroom property and showing initiative in community activities.

In Upper Elementary, children are grouped in size and configuration, in order to meet their academic and developmental needs. Some groups are based on their abilities and interests; other groups are organized with a mixture of skill or competency. These groupings give students opportunities to be challenged academically, as well as learn from others and build community. Groups number between two and five students, up to ten. Follow-up work is primarily independent, although projects usually involve two or more students. Every student maintains a weekly work plan listing assignments. During work cycle time, students practice what they have learned. Classroom teachers regularly consult with their students to discuss work and assess progress.

“Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire ‘to make him learn things,’ but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called the intelligence.” 

Practical Life

Language Overview

Through the study of many aspects of the English language, Upper Elementary students develop skills in the areas of comprehension, communication, research, and written expression. They become more fluent readers, accomplished and expressive writers, and confident oral presenters. In the process, students gain appreciation for the power of words and making inferences about literature and non-fiction. The myriad threads of language learning are woven into the fabric of all the disciplines, across the curriculum.

Writing, Mechanics, Grammar, Spelling/Vocabulary

Students receive lessons and assignments on fiction and non-fiction writing by adhering to steps of “Writing Workshop.” These steps include using graphic organizers, drafting, revising, conferring with teacher, editing, assessing growth, and finalizing text. Authors have opportunities to read their stories and paragraphs to various audiences. Students are expected to integrate what they are learning in small groups in spelling, grammar, and mechanics. Using the workbook, Spellwell, small, leveled groups receive lessons, do exercises, and take spelling tests. In vocabulary development, all students learn terms in context; some students use different levels of Wordly Wise. Upper El. students learn about all nine parts of speech and analyze them in sentences. Exercises in writing mechanics include lesson follow-up on capitalization, punctuation, and sentence construction.

Reading

The Upper Elementary reading curriculum has four components: Reading Workshop, Literature Circles, Readers Theatre, and reading comprehension. During Readers Workshop, students give written and oral responses to teachers, as guided by lessons. They record books that they have read independently, as well as those read aloud. There are quotas for reading each of the genres. In small groups for Literature Circles, students prepare for discussions of a selected novel by fulfilling assignments and presenting their work as part of book discussions. Periodically Readers Theatre uses scripts related to the history curriculum, in order to delve into character development and communication skills. Reading comprehension workbooks at different levels reinforce the development of skills, such as main idea, sequence, interpretation, and inference. Each week passage and exercises are assigned as homework.

Mathematics

In Upper Elementary, students study number theory, fractions, decimals, and percents. All areas begin with the Montessori materials so that students have a concrete understanding and learn how to derive rules. Once students demonstrate readiness, abstract ways to solving are introduced. Next, students begin to apply what they know abstractly using word problems and other critical thinking methods. Finally, retention of known skills is woven throughout students’ time in Upper El. 
In Geometry, students build upon, clarify, and augment the mathematical concepts that they learned in Lower El. They use Montessori materials and traditional tools to demonstrate understanding about angles, polygons, circles, perimeter, area, and basic volume. 

Cultural Studies

This is broad term encompasses branches of sciences, as well as history and geography. In lessons, research, and presentations, these disciplines are integrated. The objective of the Montessori cultural curriculum is to give the child an understanding of the inter-relatedness of life, of the order inherent in the natural world, and the wonder of the universe. 

History

The history curriculum is organized in a revolving two-year cycle. One year, students study early humans. In the next year, students research and analyze ancient civilizations. Students use Montessori’s Fundamental Needs of Humans Chart as a guideline of study. Having students research the key questions as the vehicle for understanding cultivates higher-level thinking. Over time, the goal is for students to build their own scaffolding of inquiry that allows them to follow their own academic interests.

Science

The science curriculum also rotates in a two-year cycle. The work in science has many connections to what students learn in history. This includes Dr. Montessori's vision of science, which fosters a strong ecological view of life and a deep sense of responsibility for the environment. Topics in zoology, matter, universe, the atom, botany, and simple machines are presented over the course of two years. In a lab notebook, students are instructed to make and draw their observations about supervised experiments and replicate procedures with partners.

Students have lessons in preparation for the yearly Science Fair. Using the Scientific Method as a guide, students embark on the science topic of choice. Through lessons, teachers emphasize the inquiry process, by asking students to base their projects on a question. Once the question is approved, students keep a journal, create a materials and procedure list, write a hypothesis, research and gather information on their topics, run their experiments, write up observations, complete graphs of data, analyze results, and draw conclusions. The goal for the Science Fair projects to display a high level of effort, thought, and application of the Scientific Method.

The Farm

The Upper Elementary students continue to visit the Natick Community Organic Farm during their studies of botany and zoology. One visit that students particularly enjoy is learning about trees, including parts of trees, veination of leaves, decomposers of trees, and reproduction. 

Spanish

“When you learn a new language you gain another world.” Goethe

With the objective to enrich students’ lives and to prepare them for active participation in a multi-lingual, inter-dependent global community, we continue to teach Spanish in Upper Elementary School.

Students in Upper El broaden their vocabulary base to include expressions of time, weather, numbers up to 100, geography and travel, food and meal preparation, public buildings and places to go, sports and hobbies. They continue to practice their conversation skills in both classes on a regular basis through random dialogues and interaction with each other and with the teacher. 

Fourth years work cooperatively on short skits, in Spanish, about familiar children’s stories or themes such as sea creatures. Card games, board games and GeoSafari® serve as a fun way to reinforce vocabulary. Students are introduced to pre-Colombian civilizations in Meso-America and the Andes including Panama and Mexico. In the kitchen students prepare fresh meals. They dance typical dances and sing typical Spanish songs.

Fifth years begin a more structured approach designed to prepare them for the transition to Spanish study in the Middle School. Instruction in grammar begins with subject pronouns, gender and number agreement of nouns and adjectives and the difference between definite and indefinite articles. They conjugate regular verbs in the present tense and learn to form the simple future. Students also begin to learn the irregular verbs ir and ser and the correct use of estar.

Writing assignments are frequent. Homework is assigned on a bi-weekly basis and varies from doing a translation, studying for a vocabulary quiz or perhaps doing a geography exercise.

Art

Learning to draw is learning to see.  In Upper Elementary we work to apply our core concepts using drawing as a way of understanding the visual world. Students keep a sketchbook as a visual resource. We promote a mobile classroom, taking our sketchbooks into a variety of settings including the neighboring parks and gardens. In the winter, we focus on personal projects making full use of all art room materials and processes.

Computer

In Upper Elementary, students continue with the keyboarding program. By fifth grade they are expected to know all their letters and major punctuation without looking at the keys. We continue our study of Internet safety and begin to use the Internet in combination with research projects in their classrooms. We practice formatting and working with images in Microsoft word and begin basic use of the video camera and iMovie editing software. 

Music

Students develop visual and aural recognition of whole steps and half steps; introduce counting of rhythms using numbers; simple sight singing exercises; simple melodic dictation; perform in instrumental ensembles; introduce more complex song material with more complex melodic accompaniment; introduce historical periods; introduce chords and their rudimentary functions; introduce compound time ( 6/8, 9/8, 12/8); introduce conducting patterns; introduce musical forms (ABA, Rondo, Theme and Variations); further work with improvisation and composition.

Physical Education